


So Close, Yet So Far

by daire



Category: Highlander - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-02-01
Updated: 2001-02-01
Packaged: 2018-12-18 05:46:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11867955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daire/pseuds/daire
Summary: Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived atDaire's Fanfic Refuge. Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address onDaire's Fanfic Refuge's collection profile.





	So Close, Yet So Far

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Daire's Fanfic Refuge](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Daire%27s_Fanfic_Refuge). Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Daire's Fanfic Refuge's collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/dairesfanficrefuge/profile).

So Close, Yet So Far by Daire

  


  


  


_So Close, Yet So Far_

By Daire 

Another MWC response... which had to be about an unfamiliar Watcher watching a familiar Immortal, and include breakfast. 

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**August, 1994**

The thought of keeping a personal journal aside from my Watcher chronicle-ing hadn't appealed earlier. What use would it be? Then I went on assignment. This could prove therapeutic; I can't express my opinions to any high degree on my subject, so it wouldn't hurt to keep a separate chronicle. Lord only knows when I'll have the chance to write in it, it seems my subject will be on the move a lot for the foreseeable future. 

"Subject"....makes it sound like a lab experiment. What if they knew we were keeping tabs on them? I know my assignment and his teacher know about us, but how many other Immortals know? Dawson has warned me that my assignment knows, and to keep a safe distance and not interfere. 

Well, he's on the move again.... 

**October, 1994**

I almost wish I hadn't taken on this field assignment. I'm a researcher! Taught to get the facts from an unbiased position. You can't overly care for who or what you are researching, there's no point. Yet I've come to care for and about my assignment; on the whole, he's a good kid who screws up like anyone else his age. How does Dawson stay detached after having made personal contact with Duncan MacLeod? Though there have been rumblings in the ranks for a while now about his supposed personal relationship with MacLeod. 

But since the opportunity to actually Watch an Immortal rarely comes to a researcher, I jumped at the chance. As much as I loved my work, I needed a change, if only short term. I could use the experience if I ever wanted to make the move for long term. Extra work on my file wouldn't hurt. Both my assignment and I are still young, maybe if I do a good job I'll get an assignment permanently. 

So, when Dawson's request was handed in and offered, I took it. I had the most time put in as researcher in the Northwest U.S. Division, no one had more Watcher experience than I did in Research. Besides being out in the field, I've also gotten to explore the States and wherever else in the world my assignment leads me....something I've never had the chance to do before. My family grew up poor and then I struggled to pay for college. Then I joined the Watchers, learning about the secret organization from a Professor who was also a researcher. He was my mentor and miss him terribly at times. Especially now that I'm out in the field for the first time. 

Dawson's Immortal assignment, at least one of them, Richie Ryan was leaving town, and since Dawson's principal assignment is the Highlander, he needed someone mobile to keep an eye on Ryan. 

I've read his file; he hadn't had a great childhood. Who would, bounced from home to home or orphanage, feeling unwanted? After turning 18, he was legally an adult and once more on his own, only he had to provide for himself now. Before, he'd been on his own, his own family, never belonging to anyone permanently. Then finding MacLeod and his girlfriend gave him a new turn in life; then his Immortality giving him another. I think he's still getting used to it, he's only just worked up to actually taking Mako's head. 

Now he's on his own again. Feeling a cold shoulder from his teacher, he left Seacouver. When I first saw him, he looked as though he felt unwanted again. Harder I'm sure, going from feeling unwanted by foster families to unwanted by a trusted friend and teacher. I can't believe MacLeod doesn't want him, I think he only just realized that Richie has taken his first head and is ready to deal with his own life as he sees fit. 

I just hope Ryan doesn't do anything rash. He hasn't so far, but there's still a lot of country left, and I can't say Iowa is my favorite; hopefully he'll head somewhere warmer soon. 

**November, 1994**

It's been a couple months and Ryan has yet to reconcile with MacLeod. As much as I enjoy my work, there are times when I see him brooding and want to shake him and tell him to call his friend. 

As we both sat in a central Tennessee highway diner eating breakfast in separate booths, I quietly wrote or read, looking like an inconspicuous patron. I donned a mousy brown wig to hide my riotous red curls, and black framed glasses; playing the part of quiet innocuous patron. As occasionally as I could without arousing suspicion, I nonchalantly looked around, my gaze resting briefly on Ryan's face to see if I could gauge what he was thinking. He was obviously unhappy. 

For more than a few minutes, he seemed more interested in what his breakfast looked like rather than tasted like. From what I learned from Dawson, Ryan couldn't eat enough; he's barely eaten since leaving Washington, only when the mood seems to strike him. I couldn't help but stare at him. Was he thinking about MacLeod? Knew that I was following him? Pondering the meaning of Immortality? 

What was it like to be Immortal? I'd willingly taste Immortality for a while if not forever. Not to age, get sick. But on the other hand, kill to survive, watch mortal loved ones die.... 

Absent-mindedly, I tapped my pen against my teeth while staring at the young man. I looked at him, but then he wasn't the same person I've been watching for these past months. _Who is_ Richie Ryan? The face is familiar, but he's a stranger. I know everything there is to know about his life, but I'll never know him personally. 

As I studied the man, he turned his gaze from the window to his next bite of his waffle, then to me. Straight on. Like a deer in headlights. 

That was the moment I'd half-feared. What if he recognized me? Would he give his best effort at trying to ditch me? I knew he wouldn't kill me, but I didn't want to get caught. 

But my fears were quickly allayed as he gave a small smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes, and went back to his food after I returned the smile. Too close. 

It was time to change looks and get a new rental car. I always wanted to see if blondes had more fun. 

01/26/2001 

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© 2001   
Please send comments to the author! 

02/01/2001 

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